As if daily nuclear explosions on neutron stars releasing more energy in 10 seconds than the Sun does in a week weren't fantastic enough, a NASA astronomer observed a far more powerful blast lasting 1,000 times longer.
An artist's concept of a neutron star, shown here with magnetic field lines marked in blue.
(Credit: Robert Mallozzi, U. Alabama/Huntsville & NASA)
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3hour_burst_1 |
3hour_burst_3 |
A 3 hour burst of X-rays -- A light curve of time vs. detected photons (particles of light, in this case X-rays) for the three-hour burst.
Note the linear plot (3hour_burst_1) cannot contain the entire burst; but the log plot (3hour_burst_3) does show the entire burst.
(Credit: Tod Strohmayer, NASA/GSFC, RXTE)
What is a neutron star?
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/pulsars.html
What are X-rays, and what can you see with X-ray vision?
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/history1_xray.html
More about the RXTE spacecraft:
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xte/learning_center/
